South Africa needs a more realistic foreign policy that is aligned with the country’s economic interests, but the problem is even wider than that, says political economist and chair of the South African Institute of International Affairs, Moeletsi Mbeki.
“We have a government that is floundering. Foreign policy is only one aspect of that floundering. It’s just that our foreign policy failures have been accentuated by President Donald Trump,” he says.
One can question if the ANC understands the role of foreign policy in economic growth, he says, but a bigger problem is that it has no sense of ownership of the economy.
“It doesn’t see the economy as a primary national asset, it sees it as an asset of white people.”
A fundamental challenge is: how do we make the black political leadership understand that the South African economy is a national asset, not a white people’s asset they should milk for their benefit?
— Moeletsi Mbeki
Black politicians push expropriation without compensation because they think land belongs to somebody else, so they can destabilise property rights, Mbeki says.
“They don’t understand that when you do that you are undermining the functioning of the economy, which is your asset, not somebody else’s asset. A fundamental challenge is: how do we make the black political leadership understand that the South African economy is a national asset, not a white people’s asset they should milk for their benefit?”
The ANC’s failure to see the economy as a national asset is the reason so many of its economic policies don’t work.
“We’re in the middle of a huge crisis about the future of the steel industry, but how did we get there?” Mbeki asks.
“It’s because the politicians have no sense of ownership of the economy and no understanding of its key strategic components. So they’ve just gone merrily along allowing the foreign owner of one of the most strategic industries in the country to shred it to pieces. They’re totally unconcerned about it until we reach the prospect of massive job losses, and now they’re panicking because their voters are going to vote against the ANC if ArcelorMittal fires them.”
If the government doesn’t have a sense of ownership of the economy then a lot of things go wrong including economic diplomacy, says Mbeki.
“If you have a sense of ownership of the economy you will know that priority No 1 is the quality of your human capital. Look at the massive investments China makes in education because they know they need knowledge for the development of the Chinese economy.”
Beijing’s investment in human capital over the past 50 years is producing huge dividends. “This has not happened in South Africa because the political leadership doesn’t see the economy as a primary national asset,” he says.
But what the ANC is doing and thinking is now becoming secondary.
“We have to start to look forward and ask what needs to be done in a post-ANC world because ANC voters are rejecting the ANC. We have a government of national unity, so what are the DA and the other parties of the GNU saying should be done? They’re part of the government and they have to take action in changing the behaviour of the ANC.”
Not least its monopolisation of foreign policy.
The ANC might say it owns foreign policy, snorts Mbeki, but its ambassador has just been expelled from the world’s top economy and it still owes the country an explanation.
“Where is their expertise? These are questions other parties in the GNU must also answer. They’re also accountable.”
Why are they allowing themselves to be ridden over by the ANC, he asks.
“The voters said they don’t want the ANC to be the government of South Africa. These parties in the GNU are overruling the voters and saying, ‘No, we want the ANC to continue to run foreign policy.’ They have to explain why are they allowing a party that has been rejected by the voters to run our foreign policy.”
There’s all this sweet talk by the politicians saying the voters wanted them to co-operate. No, the voters wanted the ANC out. The DA is overruling the voters. Why? Just to get cabinet positions? They have to explain to the country
— Moeletsi Mbeki
Mbeki says the DA and others need to say what policy changes they’re “impacting on” by keeping a party that has been rejected by the voters in power.
“What are they achieving, besides getting cabinet positions for themselves? What’s the quid pro quo? What are they getting in return for overruling the voters? The DA hasn’t explained that. What are they delivering for the country?”
He doesn’t buy the argument that the ANC needs to stay in power because the alternative is too ghastly to contemplate. “I think that’s exaggerated.”
The minority GNU partners should be getting something from the ANC in return for keeping them in power, and they’re not saying what that is.
“There’s all this sweet talk by the politicians saying the voters wanted them to co-operate. No, the voters wanted the ANC out. The DA is overruling the voters. Why? Just to get cabinet positions? They have to explain to the country.”
The GNU needs to take ownership of foreign policy, he says. It’s no use for the DA to send a delegation to the US as it recently did.
“That’s not taking hold of foreign policy. Going to cry to some right-wingers in the US Congress doesn’t give you control over foreign policy in South Africa. That’s just dodging responsibility for our foreign policy and saying, ‘I’ve done what I can, I went to Washington.’”
If the DA wants to influence foreign policy why run to the US, Mbeki asks.
“The DA should be challenging the ANC at home in South Africa. If they’re not capable of making the ANC relinquish its monopoly control of foreign and other policy they should have left and let the ANC run the government on its own and see what the voters feel about that.”
Running to the US is not a solution, it’s an act of cowardice, he says. Instead of getting kudos for it the DA should be held to account for keeping in power a party that voters have rejected.
“The DA is responsible for the problems we have with the US now because they are the ones keeping the ANC in power.”
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